<p>I posted this in the College Essays section, but thought an adult's perspective would help so I'm posting it here too.</p>
<p>Some of my favorite films include Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and The Departed. These movies use the "F" word and a few movies use the "N" word quite frequently. I don't use any of the words in real life, but I have a thing for crime drama films. Should I list these films or just list G/PG movies? </p>
<p>There are a few R films I like that don't have profanity (The Matrix) and a few PG/PG-13 movies I really like (Shrek). Should I just stick to those?</p>
<p>I’d say stick with your favorite which isn’t profane/obscene. there are some R rated movies which are simply violent(Passion of the Christ) but have a good story.I’m not familiar with any of those, but it basically depends on the theme. If it’s about porn, parties, etc, i’d stay away from it, but if there’s an actual story behind, it’s okay</p>
<p>Those are all respected movies (indeed, Pulp Fiction and The Departed were both nominated for several Oscars, and both won at least one), and very popular with our generation. Unless you are applying somewhere religious or something, I really doubt any admissions officer would bat an eye at seeing those listed.</p>
<p>Remember they are asking you this to get a feeling, indirectly, for who you are. If you can list several movies, you might choose a range because it expresses what you like.</p>
<p>As an adult, if I read this list of 3 favorite movies only: Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dog and The Departed – I’d imagine you an edgey, tense guy with great taste in films.</p>
<p>If I read: one or two of the above AND Shrek, I’d know you also have a friendly side to you.</p>
<p>And unless you’re applying to a very conservative religiously affiliated school, I can’t see anything wrong with including R rated film(s) with some swearing in them.</p>
<p>In considering what movies to include, I’d consider the rating less than the general level of obscenity. If it’s rated R for gratuitous obscenity then that might not be something you want adcoms considering reflective of you. There are a lot of rated R movies that would probably reflect on you very well, and others not so much. There’s a lot more to The Departed, for example, than the swearing and the violence. It has a really cool story and was a very well crafted film. There are other movies just as obscene and violent that exist purely to be obscene and violent. As long as you stay in the former category I wouldn’t worry.</p>
<p>If you’re applying to colleges, you’re 17-18 anyway. You’re old enough to watch R rated movies. :P</p>
<p>Thanks! These aren’t very conservative schools, but just to be on the safe side I’ll do the range thing. Thanks paying3tuitions and everyone else! :)</p>
<p>TwistedxKiss, good point. I was worried about some of the other noir-ish films on my list. But now that I think about it, they all have at least some element of depth to them.</p>
<p>What do you think about Tropic Thunder? It’s a movie with a lot of profanity but it doesn’t quite have the depth of movies like The Departed. I guess one could argue Tropic Thunder is a satire on Hollywood…</p>
<p>The movies you listed are favorites with both my husband and my son. I absolutely love them all as well - but I do have to close my eyes at some of the more “disturbing” scenes. I have to say that I personally wouldn’t want my kid to attend a college that would “judge” him because of his taste in movies - come on, we’re not talking about “Debbie Does Dallas” here and we’re not talking about a middle-school student writing an essay!!! These are all mainstream, well-received movies. As a h.s. senior you’re probably 18 years old, or very close to it. I say be yourself if you’re really looking to find a good match and/or fit with your college.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. Some of the best movies ever made are R-rated for one reason or another. All the movies you cite have at least some critical acclaim. If you were citing teen fantasy flicks or high-ammunition budget action-adventure films, then I’d be concerned…with taste, not the R-ratings.</p>
<p>My son got into one of the top schools in the country (one which places a lot of emphasis on its unique essays) with an essay about Tucker Max. I wasn’t pleased with the topic, but it was very clever and it worked…</p>
<p>I might not list Pulp Fiction if I was applying to Liberty University, but for most places I wouldn’t hesitate to list. Even though my dh is such a weenie he wouldn’t see it, I thought it was brilliant and my teenage son likes it as much as I did. By all means put the edgy ones on your list, and if you can include some things like Shrek too, all the better. I think it’s better to be honest anyway. A college that doesn’t want you because you liked an R-rated movie or two is probably not the right place for you.</p>
That’s the only one I think I would suggest you leave off, not because of its profanity, but because of some controversy it created about racial portrayals, and about its reference to “■■■■■■■.”</p>
<p>Those are really interesting films. I think they are good choices for your essay. Doing the range thing paying3tuitions described could give a nice balanced picture of you.</p>
<p>I ended up listing some “cleaner” R-Rated movies I like as well - like The Prestige and Insomnia. Hunt, I ended up leaving Tropic Thunder off the list because of just that. Given the character limit, I wanted to include movies I like better.</p>
<p>'rentof2, unfortunately it isn’t an essay If it were I wouldn’t have worried about it. I would have just explained why I like these movies. But since it was a list, that’s what concerned me a little.</p>
<p>“Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and The Departed”–all good movies–The Departed was one of the best I’ve seen in years. I would find reference to that movie a lot more impressive than Shrek if I were reading your essay–assuming your comments are intelligently phrased and well crafted. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about the ratings–the language means very little, though to me gratuitous violence is not appealing. The quality of the film does not come from language/violence/sex or lack thereof. And not all under-seventeens are the same, not are all family or community standards the same. I still remember that my now grownup son loved Glory (for which Denzel Washington won an Oscar) when he was a preteen; it was R rated, and I still think it was an appropriate–indeed beneficial–film for him to see with his father and a friend, after all these years.</p>
<p>Still, I can’t imagine The Departed being considered a “bad” movie to have liked–just choose your favorite movies and if you think they could stand up to a paragraph in your own mind if you were writing or talking about, then they are fine to put in a list.</p>
<p>If my kid asked me this, I’d say just write about the movies you like and don’t worry abtu whether someone in the admissions department of a school thinsk those are good movies to listy or not. </p>
<p>An essay question is about you, who you are, and how well you articulate the reasons for your choices. </p>
<p>If there really si a school out there that would turn you down because of “who you are”, because your well-written essay was about movies that the Admissions Team believes are not good movies to write about, that’s an indication that the college is probabaly not a place you would want to go to.</p>
<p>Be who you are . . . let the Admissions folks choose you because of who are, not who you pretend to be.</p>
<p>I agree with Keiolei. Be who you are. On top of that unless you are a 14 year old wonderkind, you are almost if not already a legal adult and it is not relevant whether it is PG or R. Write with convinction…your beliefs are your beliefs.</p>
<p>As the previous poster have said, I don’t think they really care which movies you pick. They’re interested in why you picked them. Pick the ones that best demonstrate what you like about crime dramas.</p>
If it were I wouldn’t have worried about it. I would have just explained why I like these movies. But since it was a list, that’s what concerned me a little.</p>